'Pancakes.'
They were exactly as I remembered.
Or like how Sethius remembered?
I don't know which of these two is the correct answer, but ooh boy...
They were fluffy, sweet... delicious!
So good in fact, that I ate 3 portions.
*Clack.*
I placed the silver fork down gently against the plate, the sharp sound echoing through the vast, empty dining hall.
"That was... quite adequate."
I spoke to the air, but the effect was immediate.
"W-we are pleased that it was to your liking, Your Highness!"
The head chef, a burly guy who looked like he could snap a steel beam in half, was practically trembling.
He bowed low enough for his nose to graze the cold obsidian floor. Behind him, a row of maids curtsied in unison, their eyes fixed firmly on their shiny shoes.
'So that's how it is to be rich and have status, huh?'
I stood up, smoothing out the front of my silk shirt.
'I can live like this, not gonna lie. Everybody, everywhere I go, must be respectful to me.'
I turned on my heel, the heavy iron-bound doors swinging open with a groan before I could even reach for them.
"I will be taking a walk in the garden. Do not follow me back."
"Y-yes, Your Highness!"
My body moved with a grace that still felt foreign, yet entirely natural.
*Step. Step. Step.*
The corridors of the castle were just as oppressive in their opulence as my bedroom.
Everywhere I looked, I could see a piece of ancient history, be it marble statues or old paintings of some dead fogeys.
The vaulted ceilings soared impossibly high, lost in the shadows, while gothic arches lined the hallway like the ribs of some dead leviathan.
And, while walking, I passed a massive window and paused.
Outside, the world was bathed in blood.
The sky wasn't blue. It was a churning, bruised expanse of darkness and violet, illuminated by a deep crimson, broken moon that hung ominously above the jagged spires of the castle.
This was, after all The Moros Vampire Empire. A land of eternal twilight and blood.
Finally, I stepped out into the garden where the air was heavy, carrying the metallic scent of blood-lilies and the damp chill of the earth.
Above, the slightly red sky cast long, distorted shadows across the black grass.
My hand twitched, instinctively reaching for the hilt of the Miao Dao strapped to my waist.
*Step.*
I halted.
In the distance, nestled between a patch of weeping willows and thorny vines, was a small figure.
He was tiny, perhaps no older than five or six.
His hair was the same snowy white as mine, though shorter and messier, and his eyes were a softer shade of crimson.
Radu Von Nevermore. The 3rd Prince. My little brother.
He was crouched on the dark soil, his small hands covered in dirt as he carefully patted the earth around a drooping, pale flower that looked out of place in this hellscape.
'He looks... fragile.'
That was my first thought. Adam would have thought he looked cute.
Sethius? Sethius saw trash.
It wasn't until my shadow fell over him, blocking out the crimson light, that he noticed that I was walking towards him.
"Ah!"
Radu flinched violently, scrambling back on his hands and feet. When he looked up and saw me, his face drained of what little color it had.
"B-Brother Sethius..."
His voice was a squeak. Fear. Pure, unadulterated fear.
But, beneath that fear, as his wide red eyes took in my form standing against the backdrop of the bleeding sky, I saw it.
Admiration.
My eyes narrowed.
I stepped forward, towering over him. My gaze shifted from his trembling form to the flower he had been tending.
It was a small, fragile thing. A white rose struggling to survive amongst the aggressive, magical flora of the castle grounds.
"How pathetic."
"H-huh?"
Radu blinked, confusion warring with his fear.
I lifted my boot.
*Crunch!*
I brought it down directly on top of the white rose. The sound of the stem snapping and the petals being crushed into the black dirt was loud in the silence.
"N-no..."
Radu's breath hitched. He reached out a hand, but stopped halfway, too terrified to touch me.
I ground my heel into the earth, ensuring the flower was nothing but a dead smear.
"Look at you," I sneered, my voice dripping with disdain. "A Prince of an Empire, yet playing the role of a lowly gardener."
"I... I just wanted to help it..." Radu stammered, tears pricking the corners of his eyes.
"Help it?"
I laughed. It was a cold, sharp sound that seemed to freeze the air around us.
"You are a Vampire, Radu. You are royalty."
I leaned down, my face inches from his. He trembled, shrinking back, but I grabbed his chin, forcing him to look me in the eyes.
"We do not nurture the weak. We do not play in the dirt like lowly humans hoping for a harvest."
"B-but..."
"Silence."
My grip tightened slightly.
"Look at what I did. I crushed it. Why?"
Radu swallowed hard, a tear escaping and rolling down his pale cheek. "B-because... you are strong?"
"Because it was in my way. And because it was weak enough to be crushed."
I released him, standing back up to my full height. I dusted off my hands, looking down at him with a mix of boredom and arrogance.
"If you spend your time with your head in the mud, worrying about things that are beneath you, you will eventually be crushed just like that flower."
Radu stared at the flattened remains of the rose.
'I'm being an asshole.'
Adam's conscience whispered in the back of my mind. But Sethius's instincts roared in approval.
This was how it had to be. This world wasn't kind. Especially not for us. If he stayed soft, if he stayed like this in a world full of monsters, he would die.
"Stand up," I commanded.
Radu scrambled to his feet, wiping his dirty hands on his velvet pants.
"A Prince does not lower his head," I said, my voice dropping an octave.
"If you want something to grow, you don't help the earth. You command it. You seize the resources it needs. You choke out the weeds that try to steal its light."
I looked him up and down.
"Clean yourself up. You look disgraceful."
I didn't wait for an answer. I turned around, the black cape of my uniform fluttering behind me like I was in some sort of rom-com dramatic scene.
My hand drifted to my sword hilt again.
The training grounds were calling. I needed to sweat. I needed to swing this beautiful blade until my arms burned.
As I walked away, I didn't look back.
But Radu did.
The little boy stood amidst the dark flowers, the bleeding sky reflecting in his wide eyes.
Slowly, the trembling ceased. The fear that had paralyzed him didn't vanish; it twisted into something else entirely.
Radu wiped the tears from his eyes, smearing the dirt on his pale cheek as a small, innocent smile began to tug at the corners of his lips.
'You're scary, Brother. You're mean.'
He stared down at the flattened remains of the white rose, the violence of the act replaying in his mind.
Then, he lifted his gaze to the retreating back of his older brother. The small smile stretched, widening slowly until it reached his ears, revealing his small fangs in a distorted, ecstatic grin.
His crimson irises burned with a fierce, unsettling light as he watched until Sethius disappeared into the swallowing shadows of the castle's archway.
'But even though you don't want to show it. Even though you are acting a bit strange today. I know you love me too, Big Brother.'